The Record Eagle published a story today about a new book coming out that features David Milarch. The article can be viewed here. The book is titled ‘The Man Who Planted Trees’ and will be available for purchase beginning on 4/17/12. You can get a copy of the book from our Online Store.
The author of the Record Eagle article was kind enough to mention Archangel Ancient Tree Archive and the mission of this organization. While we greatly appreciate the help of the press in getting word out about our work, we always try to clarify when there might be any confusion or misunderstandings.
To collect or not to collect…it’s all about timing:
The Mission of Archangel Ancient Tree Archive is to Propagate, Archive, and Reforest using the offspring of the world’s remaining ancient trees. It starts with a lot of looking, word of mouth, rumors, research, and good old fashioned hunting. Once we have found a tree or trees that fit our criteria which usually means it is within the top 10% for size and age of the species and it is on our list of targeted species, we collect. We take cuttings of new growth from very old trees. We do not propagate from acorns, or seed. Then we work very hard to propagate from this old tree until we have succeeded in growing new juvenile material to work with. Then many months if not years go by until the clonal offspring is large enough to be planted in an archive and additional copies may be reserved for further propagation, research, archiving, or reforesting. So…do we collect? YES! Not 100% of the time. Just like trees have seasons for growing and dormancy, these dictate when collections can happen. Just like non-profits have seasons of funding and fundraising, sometimes our collections are funds driven. Timing is everything for a collection and dependent upon many variables. We collected several trees throughout 2011 and very large amount of trees in 2010. Right now we are in the cycle of our mission when it is time to care for what we have in our living collection. Archangel has accrued over 45 species of trees since its beginning. This translates to thousands of young trees to care for. We are currently focusing on nurturing and growing those specimens to be archived and planted out. The cyclical nature of our mission and its parallels to the growing cycles of trees means that we will have phases emphasized on collecting and propagating and phases focusing on archiving and reforesting. While our forte is the collecting and propagating, our executive committee is always seeking partners for the growing and reforesting aspect of our project.
Willow Initiative:
Just to clarify, we ARE giving away thousands of black willows as part of our Earth Day and Arbor Day initiatives. Donations are welcome and enthusiastically accepted with much gratitude if you are the recipient of a tree, but not required. Donations can be made online at our Donation Center. Can’t afford a donation? There are other ways to show your support! Send us a picture of your willow in the ground and a short message about why you wanted to plant it! Spread the word! Get your friends and family to plant trees. Show your support on Facebook by liking our page and sharing the mission. These willows are from two local champion trees in Michigan, one of which grows at The Grand Traverse Commons, and one of which grows in Acme. The young trees themselves are located at our Research and Development Center in Copemish, in Northern Michigan, with some here at our Traverse City office for local pick up. We ask that you contact us first before coming to acquire any trees at 231-929-4800
